For the past four months, Dover Township resident James Meechan has had to drive several miles out of his way every time he wants to go to Dover or New

Philadelphia.

Meechan is one of numerous residents who have been inconvenienced since a large portion of roadway on state Route 516 between Bair Road and Josephine Street collapsed in late November.

The collapse occurred when Newton Asphalt Paving employees, who were dredging sand and gravel from the company’s pond near Bair Road, got too close to the edge of the pond.

Because the dredging was too close to the edge, the toe of the slope started collapsing into the water, and it continued collapsing around to the Route 516 side.

The state highway has been closed since then.

“It’s like being captive in your own house,” Meechan said. “You can get out, but you’re inconvenienced all the time.”

Meechan lives on Ervin Road, a Dover Township highway near Route 516. He can reach Dover either by driving Ervin Road to Route 39 or by taking Bair Road to Schneiders Crossing Road. An area company, though, is stripping for coal near Meechan’s house, and truck traffic has left Ervin Road covered with mud throughout the winter.

“Now the people driving Ervin Road have to drive through the mud,” he said.

He drives as slow as possible on the highway to avoid picking up too much mud on his car, but that hasn’t helped much. He complained that he has to wash his vehicle constantly, and mud is being tracked into his house.

In addition, Meechan is using more gasoline and seeing more wear and tear on his car because of the extra miles he has to drive to get anywhere.

That situation could change in the next couple of months.

Newton Asphalt is expected to begin work today on repairing Route 516, according to Becky Giauque, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 11.

The company will begin by removing the rest of the pavement from the site. Then workers will start excavating to create a bench for the highway that will prevent future slippage.

“We expect the road to reopen – weather permitting – by the end of May, if not before,” Giauque said.

Since Newton Asphalt owns the site and is an ODOT prequalified contractor, the company will do the work itself.

“It’s their issue,” Giauque said. “Otherwise, they would have had to hire someone to do the work themselves.”

She noted that the collapsed area is not technically a sinkhole, as it has been called by many residents and news media outlets. Rather, it is a pond collapse, she said.

Meanwhile, Meechan is anxious to have Route 516 reopened. He said a temporary road could have been built to ease the inconvenience that residents have experienced.

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“They ought to compensate us for all the extra gas we’ve used,” he said, “and for washing our cars.”